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As election looms, Billerica boards continue to clash

By Evan Lips, elips@lowellsun.com

Updated:
04/04/2013 06:36:34 AM EDT

BILLERICA -- It's not a stretch to say the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board, the only two elected groups to feature contested races this spring, do not enjoy a particularly harmonious relationship in America's Yankee Doodle Town.

Close observers of the two boards have watched the sparring revolve around everything from the placement of cell towers to the siting of recycling hubs, and with days remaining until voters head to the polls, several candidates in both races are not shy about voicing opinions.

The Planning Board race features four candidates and three seats, with two of the candidates incumbents.

Incumbent Bob Casey said the latest perceived blow to his board's authority -- the move of a recycling company to a warehouse on Salem Road -- was ushered in by the town with zero input from any other boards aside from the Conservation Commission, regarding a parking-lot-drainage matter.

"There's some resentment," he said Tuesday about the relationship between the two boards.

Houston-based Waste Management's upcoming move to the old Boston Globe printing plant is the latest salvo, but disagreements have become commonplace in the last two years, since selectmen supported a wireless company's bid to place a cell tower at the foot of a soccer field in Pinehurst.

Casey charged that it should all come down to what is best for the community.

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"The silence is deafening on these issues," he said. "Do we really want cell towers and recycling transfer stations?"

Casey said his point in referring to the Salem Road warehouse as a "transfer station" is that recyclables will essentially be trucked there, boxed, then trucked away. The neighborhood, however, is still zoned for light-industrial use.

Fellow incumbent board member David Kinsella was hesitant to comment on the relationship between his board and selectmen. He did say the job should be "all about making decisions that improve the quality of life for residents."

The two Planning Board challengers, Matthew Battcock and Rome Capobianco, have said they are familiar with the cool relationship. Battcock said Tuesday he has heard about the rifts but added that he plans to approach everything with an open mind if elected.

"I think it's important to have an even keel, and whoever has the best ideas should go with them," he said. "That sounds simple, yet I know when politics are involved, the water gets a little muddied."

Capobianco has said he will "go along with the other members" but noted that he plans to "represent the best interests of the residents of Billerica."

Meanwhile, the race for Board of Selectmen features three candidates and two seats, with two incumbents.

Incumbent Bob Correnti said as far as the recycling plant, his board had no involvement. The footprint of the old warehouse is not changing, he pointed out.

"The building inspector deemed it to be light manufacturing and allowed within that zone," he said. "People seem to attribute us to these decisions, but we did not do anything."

Correnti added that in his 12 years as selectman, he has always "respected the independence of the other boards."

As for the Akeson cell-tower debate, still broiling because a neighbor is fighting the town in Land Court, Correnti charged that the Planning Board should have "held the proper hearings."

"The Planning Board had the opportunity in the hearings to prove with data that another location would satisfy a gap in coverage," he said. "They didn't do that."

The Akeson location, he added, was one of four picked by Town Meeting as potential sites for new towers.

Challenger George Simolaris, however, has argued in the past that Town Meeting is not indicative of what residents want. As for the relationship with the Planning Board, Simolaris has said he'll "work with anyone," and even noted that he has approached Town Manager John Curran, a frequent adversary, and vowed that if elected, he'd "be willing to work with him."

Incumbent Mike Rosa is actually still embroiled in a suit he filed in Land Court against the Planning Board over its denial of his proposal to subdivide his Sheldon Street property. He has maintained that the suit does not affect his decisions as a selectman.

On Tuesday, he agreed with Correnti that the recycling plant is a nonissue.

"The neighborhood was already zoned for it when the Globe was there," he said.

Rosa did offer an example of how he has previously helped residents stay informed on planning issues. During one of his stints as selectmen chairman, he recalled, he encouraged Home Depot to make a presentation at a board meeting when the do-it-yourself giant was looking to move into the Billerica Mall.

"I think that was helpful for residents and, prior to that, something like it hadn't been done before," he said.

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